China’s young tech millionaires just the right demographic for British supercar maker McLaren as it zips past rivals
- Sales of the British supercar maker soared 125 per cent last year in China; Hong Kong was the seventh best market
- Youngest McClaren buyers in their early 20s
Last year was disappointing to say the least about the mass car market in China. Sales declined 2.8 per cent – the first drop since the early 1990s – as an escalating trade war and slowing economy preyed on ordinary consumers.
But unlike the turmoil in the mass market segment, sales of supercars tore through the roof, despite the stock market rout in China that erased hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth of the country’s super-rich.
Three of the big marques – Lamborghini, Ferrari and McLaren – had a stellar year in China. But it was McClaren that stood head and shoulders above the rest, with a massive sales jump of 125 per cent year on year to 330 units. Lamborghini and Ferrari each saw a 12.6 per cent rise.
Globally, however, Lamborghini sold 5,750 cars in 2018 – 51 per cent more year on year. Ferrari sold 9,251 cars, up 10.2 per cent, while McClaren boosted its numbers by 44 per cent.
“China is interesting in that we have had such strong growth in the last year,” George Biggs, managing director for Asia-Pacific at McLaren Automotive, told the South China Morning Post on Monday, at the unveiling of its Hong Kong partner Adamas Motors’ upgraded showroom in Hopewell Centre.
